Member's Press Release

President Cole

Senate President Bill Cole issued the following statement regarding Thursday’s meeting of the PEIA Finance Board

I was completely dismayed to learn that the Public Employees Insurance Agency Finance Board on Thursday – rather than accept the responsibility that is placed upon them as members – instead voted unanimously to shift the burden for their failure to rest squarely upon the shoulders of the Legislature.

We don’t walk away from tough problems in the Legislature, and we want to make this abundantly clear: West Virginia’s taxpayers will not be left to hold the bag for the bad decisions and poor management of the political status quo, including this PEIA Finance Board.

Unfortunately, the Board has done little to remedy this situation and willfully ignored this festering problem for the last five years, which has now reached critical mass. Its inaction and spending down of its reserves while pretending this issue would magically repair itself is directly responsible for the situation we find ourselves in today.

The Legislature stands committed to working with the Governor, but the Governor needs to offer a workable solution that doesn't raise taxes on families and is based on fiscal responsibility. The Legislature remains committed to being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. That’s clearly more than can be said for the PEIA Finance Board.